Hip Hip Hooray! As of Saturday night, we were all sleeping in our new bedrooms. Even the guest room was full with Peter's folks visiting. Still tons to do getting our things unpacked and organized, and putting the downstairs back together again. But we got a good start this weekend and feel that we've hit a huge milestone. It was a nice weekend for the kids, with a visit to the school fair where Max will be attending kindergarten next year, a birthday party for Max on Sunday, a fun trip to Petco with their grandparents, a dance party with mommy and lots of playtime. Both kids also helped with the move. Esme helped her dad put together our bed frame - putting the washers and nuts on the bolts. And Max helped build a new platform/boxspring - handing Pete the screws and holding the drill bit. Having company also gave us an opportunity for a nice dinner two nights in a row - which is almost as appreciated as the babysitting!
Posts
Outdoor fun. Last weekend we finally had some outdoor weather. The kids were excited to be able to spend so much time outside. Max and I spent some time with a bucket and a hose cleaning all the kids toys and he and Pete broke in the t-ball set. I've chosen this picture because it includes the new car. Dad has pointed out that I don't often mention material things on the blog - like the new car or our house project - this is because it's meant to be about the kids really. You'll notice I don't spend time here commenting on my work or anything else either. But as I have this photo that does double duty, here's the new machine for your admiration.
Bring your child to work day. The day isn't over yet, but I snapped a couple of pictures of Max as he passed through my department on his tour of the publishing office. He has been counting down the days until he could come to the official "Bring your Child to Work Day." Maureen has joined me for the second year, so she's in a different group from Max. Here's my smart little boy at work...
Pockets. Bags are among Esme's favorite things to play with. Anything that has a handle and can be carried around. Purses, buckets, backbacks. Peter's satchel always tempts her, but it is too heavy for Esme to move. The best thing about bags is that you can fill them with stuff. I just went to put something in my purse at work and noticed that the side pocket is full of Max's colorform stickers. I wonder if he has even been missing them...
In her own time. Esme is a late talker. At almost 20 months old she only uses a few words frequently. This has been a source of frustration for her parents because we've always had the sense that she is just being lazy about it. It's obvious that she understands everything and is just choosing not to speak. This weekend she confirmed our theory. Several times she clearly enunciated a 'new' word in order to draw our attention to something specific - boot, car, truck, pants. But when asked to repeat the word again "that's right Esme, boot, can you say boot?", she'd simply look us in the eye, shake her head once and say "No." This is a girl who knows her own mind. Esme's list of words is growing: hi, bye, mommy, daddy, puppy, book, fish, eye, nose, Pepsi and Cola (the Flynn's dogs), please, thank you, Max, grandpa, Mo (Maureen), glasses, boot, car, truck, hair, pants, ball, baby, yes, no, more, mine. I'm sure there's m...
Weekend synopsis. Mom and Dad visited this weekend and the walls are fully painted. Thanks Dad! Lots of trim to go, but we're getting closer. Max and Esme and Emily and Rachel had a mini egg hunt on Sunday and ate their fill of jelly beans. The kids and grandpa did lots of drawing, and grandma and Max returned from the library with a large stack of books to enjoy. Pictures to come...
Lead up to Easter. Last weekend Peter and Max went to the local egg-hunt at the park. Much to Max's glee the grass was full of chocolate candy eggs. [Esme and I missed the trip because she was napping - oh well.] According to Pete they lined the kids up in age groups, let them free into the roped off area, and the field was picked clean in about 40 seconds. Max brought home a little bucket of candy which I've been carefully doling out over the past few days. [Luckily for Max it's not the really good chocolate, so he hasn't lost much of it to his parents!] We also colored eggs last weekend - thanks Grandma Sissy! - which Max thinks we should leave in our yard for the Easter bunny. I'm not sure how/why he's reversed the process in his mind, but it's very generous of him to want to feed the local wildlife. The eggs are still safely in the refrigerator where they belong. The weather is not supposed to be particularly nice this weekend, but the plan is to h...